COVID VACCINE UPDATE

The Department of Health today announced that Northern Ireland’s COVID-19 vaccination centres are now offering first dose appointments to everyone aged 18 and over, as part of the drive to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible.  Community pharmacies continue to be available to book a vaccination slot for those aged 40 years and over. Due to the additional availability of the Pfizer vaccine to all age cohorts through Trust centres, community pharmacies will no longer be offering vaccination to under 40s at this

To book online go to: https://covid-19.hscni.net/get-vaccinated/(external link opens in a new window / tab)

For those who cannot book online, appointments can also be made using the telephone service 0300 200 7813.

You should not book if you already have a vaccination appointment with your GP or community pharmacy.  The Trust-run vaccination centres are located at: SSE Arena, Belfast; Foyle Arena, Derry/Londonderry; Omagh Leisure Centre; Lakeland Forum, Enniskillen; South Lake Leisure Centre, Craigavon; Seven Towers Leisure Centre, Ballymena; and Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.

Some appointment slots are still available at the centres for this weekend and we are today opening a fresh batch of slots for next week.

Welcome to Dr Crossin and Higgins Practice

We are currently experiencing a high volume of telephone calls. Please be assured that our staff are working as efficiently as they can. It may take longer than usual to get through to the Surgery. Please be patient.

There are occasions due to the high volume of telephone calls there may be a delay with dealing with your queries promptly and your patience and understanding is appreciated.

In view of this it may help to know the following:

1. For a GP telephone call back please telephone the surgery between 8.30am – 10.00am. A face-to-face appointment can only be booked by a GP as we are not able to offer advanced booking for routine appointments currently.
2. Telephone after 2.00pm if you need any of the following:
   • Appointment with the Practice Nurse for bloods /BP/ Smear/ Asthma review/ COPD review/ Diabetic review/ Warfarin
   • Results of blood tests or investigations
   • Repeat sick lines
   • Other queries

Thank you for your understanding.

COVID VACCINE UPDATE

We are working our way through eligible groups as quickly as possible. Please do not ring the practice and block our phone lines with queries about when you will be called. We find out how much vaccine we are receiving at very short notice and work to arrange the clinics for as soon as this arrives. We really appreciate your understanding with this process.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

Due to the current COVID-19 situation we can not offer prebookable routine GP appointments.  We understand that some patients are upset about this but we have to keep everyone as safe as possible and are constantly looking at new ways to provide a safe service to our patients. There are other ways in which you can reach your GP and please be aware that after the GP has spoken with you they may ask you to visit the practice to see them:

1. Triage Line: Our triage line is available for urgent queries. Our staff will take details from you and please answer these questions openly and honestly. Please respect that the GPs have directed staff to ask these questions and need the information to help you. Triage is opened from 8.30am - 10am. If you ring after this time and it is not an medical emergency, our team will advise you to ring the next day. In some circumstances the GP may feel its best that you do attend the surgery and may direct you to do so. Please be assured that we are trying to make the surgery as safe as possible for the small number of patients that are asked to come up to the see the GP. 
2. Routine phone call: Our team have a limited amount of daily routine phone calls. These are booked on a first come, first served basis. Again, our team will ask you various questions that the GPs have asked them too. Please answer open and honestly. Please do not refuse to answer as we need this information. Someone from the team will call you back throughout that day. 

PLEASE NOTE THAT OUR PRACTICE HAS A ZERO TOLERANCE ABUSE POLICY. Our staff are working exceptionally hard during these difficult times to provide a safe service. Abuse of any kind, either verbal or physical to our staff will not be tolerated by the practice.

WE APPRECIATE YOUR CO-OPERATION DURING THIS TIME. WE HOPE THAT EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS WE ARE TRYING TO PROVIDE A SERVICE WHICH IS AS SAFE AS POSSIBLE FOR EVERYONE.

Our whole highly skilled team are working together to try and do the best job that they can. Our pharmacy team, office team, GP team and nursing team are all helping each other so you may get a phone call from the staff member who can best deal with your query. We ask patients to please wear a mask where possible when visiting our premises. 

The Community District Nursing team will begin vaccinating all our housebound over 80 years old patients this week.

PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR CONTACT DETAILS ARE UP TO DATE WITH THE PRACTICE

ATTENTION ALL Patients OVER 35 years old can now

self book for a Covid-19 Vaccination

The BHSCT are managing these clinics - please do NOT contact the Surgery. Click the link below to book your vaccine

Covid-19 Self Booking Vaccine Website

https://covid-19.hscni.net

Alternatively you can make an appointment via telephone  

0300 200 7813

Corona Virus Information

nidirect.gov.uk/coronavirus

Vaccination is the most important thing you can do to protect your community against serious illnesses.  When enough people get vaccinated, it’s harder for a disease to spread to those who can’t have vaccines

We know many people are interested in the COVID-19 vaccination and want to assure you that we are working through a priority list set by the Department of Health.  Please do not contact your GP about getting the vaccine. We will contact patients in order of priority

Green Book Immunisation Guidelines Covid 19 link:  

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/948757/Greenbook_chapter_14a_v4.pdf

Coronavirus

SELF ISOLATION NOTE

If you have been advised to self isolate you can now download an isolation note to give to your employer. Please follow the link below to complete:

https://111.nhs.uk/isolation-note

If you have any of the following:

1. A high temperature
2. Shortness of breath
3. A Cough
4. Loss of Taste or Smell

PLEASE DO NOT ATTEND THE SURGERY!!
FOR ALL QUERIES TELEPHONE
CARRICK HILL   02890 268 080       GLEN ROAD SURGERY     02890 306 996 

If you are looking general advice about Coronavirus you can now contact the NHS advice line on 111.

Advice can also be found on the following links:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

https://www.publichealth.hscni.net/news/covid-19-coronavirus

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public

CLICK HERE FOR IMFORMATION ABOUT FACE COVERINGS.

You do not need to order any additional medicines. Please continue to order you medication when it is due.

During this challenging time patients are not to attend the practice to order medication and should do so via telephone, email or via our online reordering facility. 

All prescriptions will now be collected from your nominated Pharmacy including repeat prescriptions

THE PHARMACISTS ARE DEALING WITH LARGE AMOUNTS OF PRESCRIPTIONS, SO PLEASE BE PATIENT AND ALLOW TIME FOR THE PHARMACIST TO PROCESS THESE.

There will be no walk-in baby clinics until further notice

The Practice will continue to see patients specifically given appointments by the GPs

If you telephone the Practice you will be offered a telephone call back from the GP. The GP will triage your call and where needed provide a prescription or immediately necessary treatment.  You will be asked to nominate a Pharmacy of your choice where your prescription will be sent for collection.

Click Here for Self Certificate of sickness

Dr Crossin & Higgins Practice

Working in 2 locations at Carrick Hill and Glen Road Surgeries the doctors and nurses take pride in offering the highest standard of patient-centred healthcare.  We run many clinics for chronic disease care and offer a wide variety of other medical services such as antenatal and postnatal care, minor surgery, childhood vaccinations and well-person check-ups.

In addition to everything you need to know about the practice you will also find a wealth of health-related information in the menu on the right hand side. Please have a look around and do send us some feedback if you like.

We are pleased to announce that we now have two new GP Partners: Dr Maeve Armstrong and Dr Madeline Brennan.

Our Mission Statement is to provide a caring patient-centred service, combining health care and health promotion